As Popular as the KFC
by Little Donkey
Summary: University Clubs!AU. Blake is in the kung fu club (KFC). Yang, Blake's roommate, is in the kickboxing club but she's hurt her left wrist and she can't sit still so she decides to join the fencing club for the duration of her recovery. Somehow that causes Blake to meet a certain fencer face-to-face for the first time. Cross-posted from Ao3.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary** : University Clubs!AU. Blake is in the kung fu club (KFC). Yang, Blake's roommate, is in the kickboxing club but she's hurt her left wrist and she can't sit still so she decides to join the fencing club for the duration of her recovery. Somehow that causes Blake to meet a certain fencer face-to-face for the first time. Cross-posted from Ao3.

* * *

Blake moves up from crouching position but not to her full height. Velvet, who's in front of her, rises to standing position and Blake looks forward to the switch so she can stop bending over in a quadrupedal manner but on two limbs; her back is starting to ache. Blake walks backwards, not seeing where she's going due to her sight being covered, and feels hands on her hips. Considering the hands are not harassing their tail nor smacking her butt, she assumes it's Pyrrha and allows herself be guided towards the exit and to the open crowd.

Outside of the shop, Blake can hear a kid scream amongst the regular beats of the drums and gong. The percussions becomes louder with each step and Blake flattens the more sensitive ears on top of her head to muffle the sharp sounds. As soon as they exit the shop, one of Velvet's feet steps forward; Blake matches her footwork with a tiny bounce of her backside by lifting her heels further off the ground for a split second. To onlookers, the two move as one lively unit from head to tail.

Lion dancing is an art.

"The lettuce was just above us," Velvet says as they move away from the blessed entrance to play with the crowd. Blake is flapping the sides of the cover that makes the lion's body, to bring air in and cool off, when she hears Velvet sigh in frustration and say something.

"What?" Blake voices over the percussions, and it's a moment later that Velvet's words registers.

"We have to get the lettuce."

The shop must've given out alcohol to Ren and Nora, rendering them temporarily unable to be co-ordinated enough for a jump and lift. "Okay," Blake replies, "switch when you're ready."

"Ready." And Velvet swerves over to Blake's left side so they can transfer positions within the lion. To the onlookers, it looks as if the lion's chasing its tail.

Blake raises the lion's head above her own, shaking it from side to side with the expression of alertness as the music changed to a faster beat; she quickly checks what's been happening when she was in the main body.

The other lion, which consists of Ren and Nora, is playfully munching on a couple of heads in the crowd. Kids are smacking Nora's or Ren's butt and pulling on the tail of their lion and she sees Pyrrha make her way over to them, hopefully to prevent them from causing any lasting damages.

Blake looks for the lion's prize; she finds it in the form of a iceberg lettuce that's attached to the thankfully low door frame of the shop entrance. Only a small boost in height is needed as the two hate providing head sits for obvious reasons. They dance to the changed beat until they're almost under the vegetable.

"Ready," Blake says. She's answered with short jerks on the sash around her waist by Velvet.

Blake jumps, landing her feet in-between Velvet's horizontally aligned hips and thighs. Their lion is on its hind legs and it tilts its head, curious at its food before it makes a grab for it. Fortunately whoever's tied the prize has done a loose knot; it gives way easily. Ripping the red pocket off the lettuce, Blake stuffs both items inside her tucked in shirt.

"Got it," Blake announces. Velvet jerks the sash again, signalling that Blake will be thrown off to touch ground a moment later. Back on her feet, Blake raises the lion's head again and sees Pyrrha subtly pointing towards the person she's standing next to.

The owner of the shop.

Blake squats, then gracefully falls onto the ground with her legs spread open. Their lion rests as Blake tears up the lettuce into manageable bits. When she's done, she closes the lion's mouth and carefully places the lettuce strips on its tongue.

Blake and Velvet rise up and slowly dance towards the shop owner. When they're within throwing distance, Blake carefully moves the lion's head to her left side, opens its mouth and jerks the head to the other side.

Strips of lettuce fly in a sweeping arc before they fall onto the owner and crowd, blessing them with luck. There's cheering and enthusiastic percussions and the rest of the dancing routine becomes a blur to Blake.

When Blake can finally take the lion's head off, she and Velvet make a beeline towards the percussionists where the gong and a bag of bottles is hung off from the drum trolley. They take a bottle each from the bag and drink all of its contents within minutes.

Ruby, who's the gong player for today, beams at them. "Great work you two!"

Blake smiles and nods.

"Did I, uh, do okay?" Jaune asks. It's his first time playing the cymbals and his self-consciousness shows in how relatively light he hits the percussions. Blake quietly appreciates the softness but she knows—

"You need to play louder," Adam remarks. "If you get lost, just play single beats and listen to Ruby's gong until you find the rhythm again."

"Huh? I thought I should listen to your drumming?"

"When you get used to the music, you should. But it can be hard when you're new. For now just focus on keeping the beat going and playing louder."

"Alright. I can do that."

Ren stumbles over to them and fumbles to get a water bottle. Pyrrha hands him one.

"Do you want water?" Pyrrha asks Nora, who's right beside Ren with the lion's head thrown over her shoulder in the same manner as one does with a duffel bag.

"Nope. I'm fine!"

Blake unzips the fanny pack that's worn diagonally across her torso and checks the time via her phone. "Ruby and I'll be going now," she announces. Ruby, who's been teaching Jaune lion dancing beats by clapping hands, perks up. She gets ready to move.

"Alright. Thanks for today," Adam says. "You and Pyrrha are taking tomorrow's class, right? Sifu and I can't be there."

Blake nods and turns sheepishly to the rest of the group. "Can someone take this lion back to the storeroom for me?"

Velvet offers her hands. "I'll do it. I'm heading back to the campus anyway."

Blake hands over the lion with thanks; she watches Jaune's chest fallen expression. Jaune is one of the newest members of their kung fu club and is anxiously eager to be as helpful as possible.

"Jaune," Adam says, "help me put the gong and cymbals back in the bag."

"Ah, sure." Jaune takes off the gong that's the circumferential size of a charger plate from the drum trolley. "Wow! It's a lot heavier than it looks."

Pyrrha laughs. "Yes, it's pretty thick too. It's why it can make such a nice sound."

Blake moves the red pocket from inside her shirt to her fanny pack and looks at Ruby, who's also packed up and ready to go.

After they've announced their leave again, and everyone in the group has made their proper goodbyes, the two head towards the restaurant Yang has chosen for today.

* * *

"So how's fencing, sis?"

They've made their orders when Ruby finally blurts out the question that's been on Blake's mind. Yang the natural melee fighter … with a weapon? It doesn't make sense.

Yang grins. "It's great actually! Had my first lesson yesterday. The coach knows what's she's talking about."

"Do you see yourself continuing it even after you've healed your wrist?" Blake asks.

Yang hums in thought this time. "I don't know. Maybe. It depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Wow, you're really en garde today."

Blake blinks, unimpressed.

"I thought that was a good one," Yang says, almost whining, "but I can see how the bad timing can make it look bad."

"Yang, you're derailing." Blake softens her voice. "It depends on what? Is the wrist injury...?"

"Oh, no, it'll recover fine. It just depends if I'll still be interested."

"I don't know why you didn't try the KFC," Ruby says, pouting, "we also have one-handed weapons."

"I just thought fencing was interesting," Yang says with the familiarity of having said that several times before. Considering how much Ruby wants Yang to participate in the same club activities as her, it probably is.

"You said the coach knows her stuff," Blake points out, "what do you mean by that?"

Yang brightens up. "She explains techniques without the waffle. It's on point and I get it right on the first try. Eh, most times."

Blake notes Yang's eager smile. "And she's attractive too, isn't she?"

"Oh yes she's so hot. Her name's Winter." Here, Yang grins.

Blake cracks an amused smile at that. Ruby is giggling.

"I knew there's another reason why you took up fencing."

"Hey, their art style is what drew me in first, okay?"

"Winter's 'art style'?" Ruby asks with air quotation marks and a shit-eating grin. Blake sometimes forgets that Ruby and Yang are sisters but it's moments like these that remind her that they definitely are.

"Well, that too. What about you guys? Any new members catching your eye?"

Ruby shakes her head, slowly. "Jaune's nice … but he's pretty new to martial arts and," she trails off.

"Ah, a turn off," Yang bluntly concludes. She then directs her stare at Blake.

"Hm? Nothing at my end."

"No smol, strong girls joining this year?"

Blake holds down a blush. "No."

"Am I considered smol?" Ruby questions.

Blake bites her tongue. She completely avoids looking at Yang's direction.

"Yeah, sis, I'd say you're smol."

Blake grinds her teeth and promises to herself that she shall never drink ever again. She regrets ever confessing to Yang when they were drunk together that she used to nurse a small crush on Ruby.

"I didn't know you have a type, Blake," Ruby says.

"I didn't know you have a type either," Blake manages to counter.

"What happened to Pyrrha?" Yang butts in.

Blake turns to Yang to voice her confusion, thinking the question is directed to her, but she's beaten to the answer.

"Nothing," Ruby sighs, "And it's gonna stay that way. She obviously likes Jaune … and he has no idea that she does."

Blake looks from Yang's disappointed face to Ruby's one of hopelessness and … jealousy? It then dawns on her.

"I never realised," Blake murmurs.

Ruby offers an apologetic expression. "Well, I kinda hid it. I thought it'd be weird to have someone in KFC know of my forever one-sided crush on the president."

 _Yeah, it would, in more ways than you know_.

"Oh," Blake says instead.

"Oh!" Yang repeats. Blake turns to Yang, thinking she's being mocked. But Yang, whose cup of tea is frozen at her lips, looks to have experienced an epiphany.

"What?" Blake asks.

"What? Oh. Nothing."

Blake narrows her eyes, but then a rice bowl with salmon is placed in front of her. She forgoes further questioning.

Food comes first.

* * *

Blake is showing the basic footwork of lion dancing to her junior kung fu club members when she hears the door to the club room open. She's expecting a late junior or Velvet, who's held back by a group meeting for an important assessment. But there's a sudden drop in noise produced from form practice and sparring, and it's replaced with hushed murmurs. Blake tunes in.

She's not familiar with the clear, hurried footsteps of their latest arrival. She shakes her head and ignores it. Raising her voice over the rising whispering, she continues, "Remember the stances in your forms. They are used here. Think of lion dancing as a drill in practising your stances, and also a drill in throwing your punches but we'll get to that later—" She stops when she hears the stranger speak.

"Who's the instructor of this kung fu club?"

"That'll be Blake and Pyrrha," Jaune answers from the other side of the room. "Blake's in the black lion over there. But maybe I can help you, Ice Queen."

 _Ice Queen? Uh oh. Why is Ruby's friend here?_

Blake sighs and takes the lion head off. It'll be the first time she'll be seeing this fencer that she often hears about from Ruby, and she'd rather not do it through the lion's mouth. She remembers that the fencer is quite—

 _Cute._

Blake stares at the fencer in front of her, who's in her white gear and bearing a face of determination. A flicker of surprise passes and then she speaks, "I … apologise for my intrusion, Blake. I'd like to have a word with you whenever you're available. Preferably as soon as possible."

Blake carefully places the lion's head onto the ground in case she makes a fool of herself in front of the whole club by dropping it. Straightening her back, she asks, "Can I ask why?"

The fencer seems to mimic Blake's movement by straightening up as well. But she only manages to reach Blake's nose in height. "I represent the fencing club. We recently received a note from the kung fu club, presumingly, and I wish to continue this conversation privately. And hopefully soon."

Blake falters for almost a second. "Oh. In that case…," she turns to where the other instructor is, "Pyrrha, can you take over for a bit?"

The drummer for the day smiles. "Sure."

Blake gestures to the club room door. The fencer takes the lead and Blake follows.

As soon as Blake closes the door, the fencer picks up from where they left it. "We received a note today. It's probably better if you see it for yourself." A page that seems to be ripped off from a notebook is held up, and it reads, "Spend less time drinking tea if you wanna be as popular as the KFC."

Blake narrows her eyes at the note. She knows that handwriting. And she has an inkling of why it exists.

She is going to kill Yang.

"I apologise. I'll make sure those responsible will be dealt with. This won't happen again."

Because she's going to kill Yang.

"Thank you for taking appropriate action."

"No. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

The fencer's face softens. For a moment she looks at a loss for words. "I'm Weiss, by the way. I'm one of the instructors of my club."

"Blake."

 _She knows that already! Think, then talk._

Fortunately Weiss doesn't look amused at her self-proclaimed social blunder. "If you don't mind me asking, Blake, do you already know who's responsible for this? Because if you're going to publicly investigate who's responsible ... I'm afraid more perpetrators may join."

"Don't worry. I know exactly who's responsible and will deal with them directly and privately. If it's any consolation, they like to prank a lot."

Weiss raises a delicate eyebrow.

"So don't worry too much about the contents of the note. I'm sure the opinion is unfounded," Blake continues, realising her statement can be misconstrued that she might not be able to stop the incident from reoccurring.

"I wasn't really worried about the genuinity of the note, it's how fast bad rumours can spread … but that's still relieving to hear." And Weiss smiles.

"Also," Blake continues, "I love tea so that was an unnecessary jab."

 _Why did I say that? Someone shut me up._

Weiss chuckles instead; the corners of her eyes creases. And that's when Blake notices the faint scar across her left eye. "What kind of tea?"

Blake hums before she answers, "Any tea is fine as long as it doesn't have mint." She's surprised that she's talking so much to a complete stranger. A very attractive stranger, but a stranger nevertheless. Weiss' elaborate speech is probably contagious.

Weiss beams. "I finally meet someone who also doesn't like mint in their tea." She tilts her head to the side. "...How about coffee? I'm actually more of a coffee person."

"Um, I don't really drink coffee."

Weiss seems almost disappointed but she masks it well. Blake makes another appraising look and gulps.

If she's read Yang's intentions and Weiss' body language right….

"But," Blake continues, "I do have a latte every now and then. Why don't you introduce me to something similar?"

Blake inner cheers at the fact that she did not stutter. Weiss gapes at her, and the eye contact is so strong that the cheer dies and Blake looks away with a burning neck. The urge to run away threatens to overcome her. But she has a class to help teach and she doesn't want to explain to Pyrrha the exact reasons of —

"I know of an excellent cafe I could take you to."

"Great," Blake blurts out, trying to continue her suave lead but failing.

"We should exchange numbers so you can let me know when you feel like coffee."

"Sure." Blake pats her pockets, already knowing that she won't find what she's searching for. "I left my phone back inside though."

"That's okay, Blake. Tell me your number and I'll message you so you can get mine."

Blake smiles in gratitude and reads out her number from memory. Looking over Weiss' shoulder, she watches Weiss send a simple message with her name attached and in fully spelt out words. As a rigorous reader and person who's bad with names, Blake highly appreciates that.

 _Argh, Yang definitely knows my type._

The fencer looks up with a sly expression. "Well … I'll see you around, Blake. Let me know when you feel like coffee. I know a cup that may change your mind in how frequent you'll be drinking it."

Blake smirks. "I look forward to it, Weiss."

Weiss turns on her heel and walks deeper into the sports hall instead of towards the exit. Blake assumes the fencing club is in that direction. Blake titters between going back inside and watching until Weiss disappears from her sight. The former wins as she felt like a creep in the hallway.

Blake manages to casually dash towards her bag and fetch her phone. To her relief, she has a message notification that shows the same words she's seen outside. She taps a quick message back with her name attached and saves Weiss' number to her contact list.

Yang's death will be postponed.

* * *

Inspired from eyjoey's ask and azure-zer0's comic on tumblr. Except I put Blake in a kung fu club.


	2. Chapter 2

Blake rubs at her eyes.

The numbers on the spreadsheet are starting to blur. And it's ridiculous because she's had a good night's sleep. She sips at a blend of black tea, a souvenir from Yang's hometown, and goes through the red pockets received from performances again to ensure no money is left inside.

"Hey, you're up already and it's not because of training," comes Yang's voice. Blake doesn't look up and keeps counting, but audibly this time so Yang knows she ought not to be interrupted.

Yang quietly walks around her and the tiny dining table in their small kitchen. After Blake is satisfied that her treasury duties for the kung fu club are completed for now, Blake speaks, "How about you? Why are you up early?"

Yang is about to lean against the counter, with support from her left wrist, but stops and leans against the wall with her shoulder instead. Blake spots the bandage strap around the injured wrist.

"It's getting better," Yang answers Blake's questioning gaze, "I just wrapped it to remind myself to stop putting pressure on it."

Blake nods and stares at Yang, finding the existence of mild curiosity on Yang's face to be illogical. Her phone vibrates and she pulls it out from her pocket to see a preview of Weiss' latest message. Blake then remembers.

"Please don't send another note to the fencing club."

"Send a note? What do you-oh." Genuine surprise turns into understanding. Yang gingerly continues, "Uh, it didn't work?"

"We haven't gotten any new members, so no."

"That's not what I meant. How did you know about the note? And I hung it up on the club room door; I didn't send it."

Blake shrugs at how the method doesn't matter. She pauses and decides to be vague with her answer to the question; it'd be best not to tell Yang that her unannounced plan actually worked until after the coffee date. And Blake has high hopes it will be a good date. She and Weiss have been keeping a text conversation going with no hint of staleness. The last thing she wants is external pressure to not muck up. "One of the instructors came over to tell me. I think she's Ruby's friend?"

"Weiss?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing happened?"

Blake blinks and thinks over her answer carefully. "She came over to tell us about the note and thankfully didn't sue us for defamation."

"No, I meant, wasn't she your type?"

"What type?" Blake parries, but the move isn't going to work. She can feel her furless ears burning. Why do they love to do that?

Yang smirks and Blake fervently wishes she didn't tie up her hair this morning; those ears are hidden when her hair is down. "You know exactly what I mean."

Blake looks away.

"You didn't make a move, did you?" Yang asks, relatively quietly.

Blake shrugs. "How's your coach?"

"What? You mean Winter?"

Blake nods.

Yang seems as if she's going to call out Blake's diversion, but says, "Warming up to her. We talk after class. She's such an adorable nerd, going on about upcoming competitions and bouts. And encouraging me to try watching them."

Blake smiles. "That's nice. Are you gonna watch them?"

"I've watched a few on YouTube. They go pretty quickly."

"Oh? Show?"

"Sure."

As Yang tries to find one of the videos on her phone, Blake sneaks some time on her own phone to read Weiss' message.

 _"Good morning, Blake. Hope you slept well. I have training this morning with my sister or else I'll be sleeping in. What are your plans for today?"_

"Okay, here's one," Yang says.

Blake casually pockets her phone and leans over to look at Yang's. The last thing Blake needs is to be teased on whom she's texting with.

The video presents two masked fencers in white gear. They're standing in the middle of a long, narrow strip where each end is connected via some cable to the closest fencer. The fencers face each other and ready their swords. And off they go at the referee's call.

Blake sees a metallic flurry of action before the fencers suddenly stop. A point is added on the scoreboard, making it display 1-0. The fencers return to their original spot, which seems to be at the middlemost two lines of the strip, and they rush towards each other again.

Blake tries to understand the rules as the bout goes on. All she can safely conclude from watching is that the fencer to first hit the other's person gets a point.

The fencers are light on their feet as they advance and retreat. And the swords look incredibly thin as they flicker to and fro in the air, but they are apparently solid enough to deflect off strikes aimed at their body. The points on the scoreboard continue to increment on either side of a timer that looks to be forever set at three minutes.

When the score is 8-5, both fencers walk off camera and the frozen timer finally counts down. The camera then pans over to the fencer who's consistently in the lead, who's taking off her helmet and is—

 _Weiss…?!_

Blake knows for sure it's her due to the name that's stamped on the back of her jacket. Weiss has her white hair in a bun and looks to be conversing with a taller, older version of herself. Judging from the body language, Weiss is mostly listening to the other woman. It's as if she's being advised.

"Is that your coach?" Blake asks, "Winter?"

"Huh? Yeah, good guess! Or, I guess you figured that's Weiss and well you're smart."

"Are they related?"

The resemblance is uncanny. And she hasn't seen many non-elderly people with natural white hair.

"Yeah, they're sisters."

That explains it, and why Yang is at home but Weiss and her sister are apparently training one on one.

"Weiss is pretty strong, isn't she?" Yang asks.

Blake gives off a deliberately uninterested hum. "Yeah. She's fast and has great reflexes."

"And she's smol."

"Yang," Blake warns.

Yang leans back with one palm up in defence. "Alright, alright. I'll stop."

"I'm going back to my room," Blake announces. When Yang wilters, looking guilty, Blake adds while gesturing at the laptop in her hands, "Sorting out the applications for the competition."

"Oh. You're entering, right?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Lemme know when it's on so I can come support you."

"Sure. And can you bug Ruby to finish her application by this week?"

"Ruby's joining too?!" Blake nods. "Sure, deal!"

Blake smiles and goes on her way. As soon as she places the laptop on her table, she pulls out her phone again and this time replies to Weiss' message.

 _"Good morning to you too, Weiss. I had a good sleep. Hope you did too despite not being able to sleep in. When does your training end? Might get coffee today :)"_

After that message is sent, Blake plugs in her earphones and searches up "beacon university fencing club" on YouTube. Luckily the club has published the videos to the public, though the comments are understandably disabled as Internet trolls like to frequent the site. Blake goes through the videos that has Weiss in the title and settles down for the next hour.

The treasurer didn't really lie to Yang. The sorting of applications is Velvet's job as secretary. And last Blake heard, Velvet's on it.

* * *

"Thank you for waiting, Blake," Weiss says as she takes the last chair at their table for two.

Blake smiles at Weiss' casual clothes and simple small bag; Weiss had included time to go home after her training session before they could meet up. "It's okay. I'm early."

Weiss gestures towards the direction of the counter. "Have you decided on what to order?"

Blake stills. She's been so busy calming her nerves that she hasn't even looked at the menu of this cafe that she has never been to as it's been Weiss' choice. She's ticked off the 'pick a nice table in a quiet spot' but had forgotten to consider this. "Um, no," she says sheepishly.

Weiss, however, seems pleased. "Good. Let me get you a latte I think you'll like."

"Oh. Thanks."

Weiss smiles and gracefully moves out of her seat. Blake watches her join the queue and tries not to stare at her swaying hips too much. She distracts herself by checking her phone, and finds that Ruby has sent her a message.

 _"Y did u tell Yang I'm entering? D: Now my dad's gonna know too and there's gonna be so much pressure"_

 _"I did say to submit the application soon or something would happen. You'll be fine"_

 _"I'll send it to Velvet today! Don't tell Yang I'm doing sparring form w Pyrrha OK?"_

 _"OK"_

Blake looks up when Weiss returns with their table number.

"How was practice?" Blake asks.

"It was okay. It could've been better, but it could've been worse too."

"Ah." When Weiss has settled down in her seat, Blake continues, "Was it just you and your sister today?"

"No, there were a few other people too. There's a sabre competition coming up that we're preparing for."

"Oh, when is it?"

"Middle of April. So it's a month away."

"Oh. I have a competition in April too, for kung fu. It's at the end of it though."

"It sounds like a popular month for competitions. I'm glad they're on different dates though."

"Oh?"

"Can I come see you at your competition?"

Blake blinks and becomes self-conscious. "Ah. Um, sure. I only have one free ticket though…" Blake trails off as she wonders if Ruby wouldn't mind in using her free ticket for Yang instead. Ruby wasn't planning to use up her free ticket for a friend or family member anyway. And Yang could always record Ruby's performances for their dad.

"Oh! It's okay if you've already invited someone else."

"No no. I'll let you know if you can get in for free."

Weiss smiles. "Thanks. I don't mind paying to see though. I'm interested to see how practitioners of your art compete against one another."

Blake can't help but return the smile. "Really? Well, I hope we won't disappoint you."

"I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Heh. Thank you. So how about your competition? What's the entry fee for spectators?"

Weiss perks up. "I can give you my free ticket if you'd like."

Blake's heart hammers against her ribs. It sounds as if they've been dating for more than a week when they've only known each other for a couple of days. "O-oh. Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course. I'm offering it to you, Blake."

"Then … I'll accept. Thanks."

Weiss beams. "I'll message you later the details."

Blake smiles, and consciously knows she's showing her teeth. She hopes there's nothing stuck in-between them. "Okay."

A silence that's almost comfortable.

"So," Blake continues, "what kind of training do you do usually? Like is it isolated footwork or…?"

"That and I go through the possible techniques to counter common attacks," Weiss pauses when the waiter comes over and sets their coffee onto the table. She and Blake thank him and Weiss continues, "Sometimes my sister throws an unorthodox move to test me, to see how I'll deal with it. She threw one today actually. We had a simultaneous attack."

Blake tilts her head at Weiss' last words and repeats them questionably.

"It's when we hit each other at the same time and none of us have priority...actually, how much of foil or sabre fencing do you know?"

"Not much," Blake admits. "It seems you have to hit your opponent before they hit you to get a point."

"Most times that is the case, yes."

"What are the other times?"

"Well if the two fencers hit each other at the same time but one of them has priority, they get the point. It's usually easy to tell who has priority; it's the fencer who first goes for the offence. If the other fencer doesn't move and thus defends, they don't get priority."

Blake nods slowly as she absorbs this.

"There are other rules in receiving priority but I usually don't tell new members about them until a month of regular training later, let alone, well." Weiss fiddles with the rim of her cup of coffee.

"Let alone an instructor of a completely different martial art."

Weiss looks up. Blake meets her eyes and holds the contact. It's when Blake cracks a tiny smile that Weiss replies with something akin to relief, "Yes, exactly." Weiss then takes a sip of her coffee and gives a tiny moan of apparent satisfaction, affecting Blake in ways that she should appropriately ignore right now by focusing on her own coffee.

It's at the right level of sweetness and has a familiar hint of something Blake can't place. She takes another sip; the hint continues to elude her. She tries to sniff at her coffee without looking too obvious about it.

"Is it good?" Weiss asks.

"Very." She gives up. "What is it?"

"Macadamia nut flavoured latte. No sugars as I figured the syrup would be sweet enough."

Blake mentally hurls the hint at the wall. She should've known why it's so familiar. She's told Weiss once that her guilty pleasure snack is macadamia nut cookies, courtesy of Ruby. It's sweet how Weiss has taken her tastes into consideration. "Excellent choice. Thank you."

Weiss beams. "There are other flavours too, like vanilla, hazelnut and even Mistral creme."

Blake's brow rises at the last option. "Mistral creme?"

"Yes. Though I couldn't really taste it much last time I had it. Well, it was also the first time I had it."

Blake smiles at how Weiss seems to be rambling. "And how did you find the vanilla and hazelnut?"

"Good. I'm actually having hazelnut right now."

"Can I try?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Blake takes a slow sip at the hazelnut latte and then looks at Weiss who seems openly interested in her response.

Weiss' expression is too adorable and Blake—

"An indirect kiss. It's good."

—immediately regrets living with Yang for so long.

There are tiny wrinkles near Weiss' widened eyes, and her lips are in a repressed smile, as if she's trying not to laugh. Blake hides behind her arms that are propped up against the table, with Weiss' mug snuggled in-between her joined hands.

"So," Weiss says, disturbing Blake's beginnings of mental self-deprecation, "how long have you been doing kung fu and lion dancing?"

Blake gingerly places the mug down and dares a peek at Weiss' expression. Signs of laughter are gone. "Since I was six."

"What did you start with? Or you started both at the same time?"

"Kung fu first. Lion dancing at 13. My father is the master of my school so you could say I was born into it. He was a bit traditional in the sense that only students who've practised kung fu for several years can start lion dancing."

"Was a bit traditional? You also mean…?" Weiss gestures towards Blake and herself.

Blake laughs. "Well, I guess that too. He's okay with me though. Anyway, he's more lax about people picking up lion dancing from the very start and some of his students now don't know much kung fu at all."

Weiss hums thoughtfully. "How come there was a kung fu prerequisite?"

"Lion heads were much heavier back in my father's day. Strength and a lot of stamina were needed to hold them up properly when dancing. Also …"

Weiss waits for Blake to continue. Blake looks around to see if there's anyone familiar, finds no one but still lowers her voice.

"Some people don't see kung fu as impressive as lion dancing and only want to learn the latter. We didn't have that many students so we had to remove the restriction for the school to thrive."

"Ah."

Blake smiles bitterly. "Yeah, that's the other reason."

Weiss seems to notice. "You'd rather he had kept the restriction?"

"Eh? No. ...It kind of bothers me whenever new students come in after a popular kung fu movie is released, but leave shortly after when they realise how much work had to be put into it."

Weiss laughs. "Oh I know the feeling. It happens for my fencing school too whenever the Olympics are on."

Blake joins in with the laughter. After they've settled down, she asks, "And how about you? When did you start fencing?"

"Seven. My older sister picked it up first and I wanted to join after seeing her bouts for the first time."

"So we both started early."

"It looks like it."

Blake and Weiss continue to chat until they realise it's nearly evening. They pack and stand up to leave, and Weiss suddenly freezes.

Blake, who's right behind her, asks, "What's wrong?"

"My sister," Weiss whispers in a voice that's laced in a mix of humour and surprise, "is having coffee with my friend's sister."

Blake sees where Weiss is looking at, and is staggered by the sight too.

By the door is a table for two. Yang is at that table, but she hasn't seen them. She's busy talking and maintaining constant eye contact with the woman across from her.

Blake quickly looks around and comes to the unsettling conclusion that the cafe only has one exit. Yang is surely going to tease her when she inevitably spots them.

Weiss is already walking towards the door so Blake catches up to stay near her.

"Huh? Blake? Why are you-oh well well well…"

Blake grimaces but stays put beside Weiss. Even when Weiss' sister seems to thoroughly examine her.

"Well well well," Winter starts, and Blake tries not to laugh at how she may have unintentionally sounded alike to Yang. "My little sister is on a date. No wonder she rushed home after practice. A rare sight it was."

Blake glares at Yang in an attempt to silence her before looking at Weiss. And Weiss … is adorably blushing.

Weiss catches Blake's eye before she faces Winter again. "Yes. Sorry if we interrupted your date." She then looks at Yang, and Blake is startled at the intensity of her glare. "And you. You'd better treat my sister right. She deserves the best."

Blake watches Yang wilter for a second before she straightens up and replies in a serious tone that is cancelled out by her actual words, "Aye aye, ma'am."

Winter, meanwhile, is reacting in a way that Blake can only describe as a calm spluttering mess.

"See you two later!" Weiss waves as she opens the door and waits with a beckoning look at Blake. How courteous. Blake shoots Yang a half smirk and leaves the establishment before Weiss. When outside, Weiss promptly grabs Blake's hand and briskly walks away from the cafe.

"Thanks," Blake belatedly says. "For opening the door, I mean."

"And for escaping my sister's interrogation. She's surely going to question you next time she sees you if she's not distracted." Weiss smirks.

Blake chuckles. "I'll prepare for that, then."

"Good."

Blake glances at their joined hands, which makes Weiss say, "I hope you don't mind holding hands? I usually ask before I go for it—"

"It's okay. I don't mind at all."

Weiss breathes out. "Good."

The walk to the closest station is pleasant. Blake turns to Weiss when they've reached the entrance and she takes a deep breath before the words leave her mouth coherently.

"Are you free for coffee tomorrow?"

Weiss beams. "Yes, definitely."

Blake inwardly screams in delight. Weiss giggles, which seems out of place.

"What?" Blake asks.

"You have such a poker face but just then your ears perked up. It's cute."

Blake hopes her poker face hasn't been broken by the flush she can feel across her cheeks. "You're cute too," she says, voice breaking.

 _Why._

Weiss grins, steps in and kisses Blake on the cheek for a good second. "Thank you. I'll text you later."

"Alright," Blake manages to say.

 _You've had girls kiss you on the cheek before. And on areas where the sun don't shine. Get ahold of yourself!_

 _Her lips are so soft though._

"See you."

"S-see you."

Blake watches the other girl leave, losing sight of her when she goes around a corner for the train platform that's separate to Blake's. Blake then turns around and tries very hard to not skip all the way home.


End file.
